Easter is a time when there are all sorts of tasty treats around and lots of gatherings and events to attend. It’s a shame not to indulge, but with a bit of thought, you can look after your teeth and have your cake and eat it too.
Choose Your Sweets Carefully
If possible, avoid sticky and hard sweets that are more likely to damage your teeth. Sticky candies are difficult to remove when you brush and floss your teeth while hard sweets can easily chip or crack your tooth enamel if you bite down. Also, hard sweets take longer to dissolve, maximising the time your teeth are exposed to sugar. Chocolate is always a better choice because it melts very easily and is more quickly rinsed away by saliva.
Wait before Brushing
Don’t brush your teeth immediately after eating something sweet but wait at least half an hour. Initially, the acid produced by mouth bacteria weakens your tooth enamel, softening it, so it’s more easily damaged if you brush your teeth immediately. Waiting allows the pH levels in your mouth to normalise, re-hardening your tooth enamel and reducing the damage caused by sugar and acid.
Rinse with Water
Immediately after eating, it’s helpful to rinse your mouth with water because this helps to neutralise acids, restoring a normal pH more quickly while washing away loose food particles.
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